China basketball hall of fame honours pioneer who is wife of renowned infectious disease expert
Household name blazed a sporting trail then branched out into health, sports science; fans say she should be hailed for her own achievements
Li Shaofen, one of China’s first female basketball players, has joined the country’s basketball hall of fame.
Li, 89, is also known as the wife of Zhong Nanshan, the pulmonologist who became a household name as a leading adviser in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
She was born in southern China’s Guangdong province in 1936. She was a main player of China’s first national women’s basketball team in the 1950s.
As a teenager, Li was selected into the national team in 1952. Li played both centre and forward and once became the team’s vice-captain.
Along with her teammates, Li came in fourth place at the World Festival of Youth and Students held in Moscow in 1957.
The team was also the winner of the Games of the New Emerging Forces held in Indonesia in 1963.
Li left the national team in 1966 and played and coached in the Guangdong provincial team before retiring as an athlete.
